Boy Meets Boy

I enjoyed this book a lot as it initially reminded me of Francesca Lia Block, whom I love. The characters were inspiring and very relatable, i thought. I liked that Paul was the central character whom all other characters stories were shared through. I also liked the focus on the adolescent issues often construed as "cliche" (relationship woes, friendships, even fashion). Juxtaposing the normalcy of these issues with the surrealism of the setting and of the general attitudes/ideas of the characters was clever and a good move on Levithan's part. I myself was big into memoires in high school and i think i would have really enjoyed reading this as a teenager.

When considering teaching this book my first questions were what kind of unit it would fit into and what kind of themes to draw from and teach. I wasn't really sure at first, the literary merit seemed somewhat pale in comparison to the entertainment value. However, I do think this book would be great on a coming of age unit, a stereotypes in literature and life unit, or when when teaching the qualities of magical realism and stream of consciousness. I would consider teaching this book in conjunction with Block's Weetzie Bat (which touches on similar teenage issues and LBGT issues but with slightly darker undertones) or even Romeo and Juliet. My only real criticism of this book it actually seems a little too innocent to me; i recall couples doing a lot more than kissing when I was in high school, but thats just my own experience. I do think the innocence is a plus when placed in the context of using it in defense of teaching this book.

Hey Girl Hey

Loved the drag show. I can't really say that i didn't expect I would; those types of shin digs are usually up my ally...by "types" i don't specifically mean a drag show per se, rather, i'm referring to any gathering of people with interesting, unique personalities ready to showcase themselves and their interests to everyone. Being in the atmosphere with all that good crazy energy made me miss a few of my gay friends whom I haven't seen in a while but I know would have loved to attend. I was instantly put in a good mood. I was also very impressed with Chris Praedel's (sp?) rendition of Fergie's Glamorous. I'm glad he wasn't too reserved about dressing up like a woman and dancing around on stage. I think everyone was proud to see him among the rest of the contestants just doing his thing and showing his support. I don't want to go turn this entry into another of my Live and Let Live rants, but it seems like that's where it's heading..not really sure what else to say other than that I think it's awesome that the Sexual Orientation group requested our presence at this event.

As a side note, i would highly recommend the movie Hedwig and the Angry Inch to anyone interested in in LGBTA issues, particularly to those fans of Outspoken's drag show.

Ok, so additionally:

I think that the LGBT community is portrayed through the media in somewhat of a minstrelsy fashion. On reality TV shows and on sitcoms like Will and Grace, there seems to be a prescription for gay men as being flamboyant, promiscuous, and brash. While they characters themselves are charismatic to audiences, which may indicate a surface level of encouraging societal acceptance/appreciation for homosexual men, it is still an example of marginalized peoples playing up their stereotypes to a dominant mainstream audience, in this case, heterosexuals who buy into the prescribed image of gay men. I do feel that there is a little more room for lesbians to be portrayed uniquely in the media, as in shows like The L Word. However, lesbian scenes tend to include sexier "lipstick" lesbians, which i assume is thought to be more visually appealing to a mainstream audience.